Entrepreneurship is an adventure. So there may be nobody better
to get survival tips from than Mark Burnett, executive producer of
CBS' Survivor and USA Network's Eco-Challenge, which debuts
next month. Small wonder Burnett, 41, whose production company, SEG
Inc., brought in more than $80 million in 2001, felt qualified to
write Dare to Succeed: How to Survive and Thrive in
the Game of Life (Hyperion Hardcover). All this from a guy
who used to be a nanny, and later sold T-shirts in Venice Beach,
California.

Your book is called Dare to Succeed. Are you
suggesting that fear plays a big role in entrepreneurs not
succeeding?

Mark Burnett: Completely.
You've heard the saying, "Analysis creates
paralysis." You can't be 100 percent sure of anything.
Obviously, I was scared to death on [the first] Survivor. I had no
idea if I was doing it right. You just have to have a gut
feeling--going with 50 percent logic and assuredness, and the other
50 percent, you don't know. It's your gut feeling. I think
those who [are successful] follow their gut feelings. If you want
to be certain, you should never get married. You should never
change jobs. In fact, you might as well just stay home. Because I
don't know anybody who is certain. That need to be certain is
just procrastination.

Your book lists seven principles for success. Which is the
most important for entrepreneurs?

Burnett: "Be right or
wrong, but make a decision." I look at decisions
like--it's like an Indiana Jones movie. The guy comes to a rope
ladder, and he's being chased. There's uncertainty on the
other side, but he knows when he gets to the other side, he's
going to take his machete and cut the rope ladder behind him. He
has no retreat. He's just going forward. And that's how I
look at it. When you make a decision, you're cutting off routes
of retreat.

My mantra is: Realize you're going to fail all the time, and
accept it. That doesn't mean I'm not frightened of it. I
still don't like the idea of failing. [But] if you don't
take risks, you're not going to make it big. You have to
embrace uncertainty.